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Testimonials

“VerdeXchange has become the preeminent gathering place for the intersection of green jobs, green technology, green business.”

— Eric Garcetti, Mayor, City of Los Angeles

“I think the quality of the content has really surpassed what most conferences have to offer. A lot of conferences are at a very basic level, assuming the audience is completely uneducated about the topic. This conference has functioned at a very high level. They know we can understand. I find that more valuable, and it gives us a better picture of how all the different industries or players are working, as opposed to an individual technology or an individual policy measure. It’s kind of a bird’s eye view of everything that’s happening right now.”

— Robyn Beavers, Senior VP, NRG Energy

“For AECOM, we’re in most of the markets, from transportation facilities to the environment, and this event captures the issues in all our marketplaces. Green business is affecting all of our built and natural environments. Until now they were separated in stove pipes. What GreenXchange has done is to pull together all those issues and underscore it with what we’re going through now with financing and all of that. That may be the common thread. But before, they were separated. For example: transportation done in a green way; building LEED-certified in a green way; and building a highway with a context-sensitive design. What GreenXchange has done is pulled all those interests under one roof.”

— Jack Baylis, President and CEO, The Baylis Group

“It will require a partnership between the private and the public sector to accomplish the goals and visions of AB 32. I’m seeing a tremendous amount of business at this conference. We need California business to really step up to the plate. They are proving that when you put a cap on emissions, it sends a signal to the marketplace. I’m very excited to be here.”

— Fran Pavley, California State Senator

“I would argue that what happens after VX2014, with the contacts that you make is as valuable—maybe even more valuable—than what occurs in the rooms.”

— Bob Foster, Mayor, City of Long Beach

“First of all, because of the different interests people bring here, it’s really great. This way, any one of us doesn’t have to go to different places to listen to people who are experts in various fields. We can come to one place, check out the breakout sessions that we have interest in, go to listen to these folks, and it’s tremendous. We’d have to spend a lot of valuable time to search out what you can hear in a two-day session. With all the ideas that are percolating around here, I think this kind of conference really jells people’s thoughts about the direction we ought to be taking.This has been a great, very exciting effort.”

— Norman Mineta, former Secretary of Transportation

“VerdeXchange, on an annual basis, brings together some of the best minds, some of the best thinkers, the influencers in this space.”

— David Fransen, Former Consul General of Canada, Los Angeles

“As I mentioned in my public remarks here at the conference, I believe it’s very important to bring a broader range of parties of interest together. Typically, you see people from the investor side or the public policy side; you don’t see both in the room around the same agenda. There are also NGOs, legislators, mayors, and people investing capital in this new area of emphasis, green technology. People want some sense of how we can do this together, how we can pull the oars on this boat in the same direction. Nobody needs a guarantee that they’re going to make a profit, but people would like to have some sense that they’re making a profit and, in addition, doing something that needs to be done to prevent the global implications of climate change and peak oil. I said in my remarks, I think this is a remarkable program. It was very, very good in terms of the broad, diverse points of view about this topic that were brought to bear. Personally, I continue to learn, and the opportunity to listen to other people speak about a topic that I have a lot of interest in, and some knowledge in, is terrific.”

— Winston Hickox, former Chair of CalEPA

“You can meet people you don’t normally run into and learn things you might not have even thought about before.”

— Martha Welborne, Chief Planning Office, Metro

“The value is to check an individual, and therefore limited, view toward the same topic. I think everybody has a depth to their own thoughts, but they’ve come for a breadth of perspective. That, to me, is the most important. Also, I think ecology and sustainable economy have a lot to do with, just like the business world, networking and crossing fundraising and interaction with other interests. Entrepreneurship is also very crucial for an event like this. For me, particularly, because I am dean of the USC School of Architecture, my primary interest in this event is to connect our research agenda to the fundamental interest from the industry and policymakers.”

— Qingyun Ma, Dean, USC School of Architecture

“The great value of VerdeXchange is that affords members of the public utilities commission an opportunity to sit down and talk with folks who are executives at utilities. I think it’s really important to be able to have a forum like VX2014 outside of the administrative hallways.”

“Sandia sees this as an opportunity to partner and identify folks that are relevant to the field of renewable energy. One of the biggest things that we are trying to do right now is transition technology from the research and development laboratory out into the marketplace, because we’re never going to be an energy provider or a for-profit company. Really, this is a necessary and vital networking tool, and also to get a better grasp of what policymakers are thinking in terms of how to incentivize renewable energy research overall.”

“I was very happy to be a part of this meeting. There is energy in the hallways and in the sessions—a very positive energy. Everybody wants to learn from each other about what local, state, federal, and international communities are doing—from the micro of one session I attended, where they were talking about the community colleges spending $83 million on carpeting to make sure the carpeting is good for the environment, is sustainable, and is produced in a way that’s good for the children at the schools and the communities, to the macro of what’s going on post-Kyoto and the varying views of what people in Bali should be focusing on.”

— Sue Garbowitz, Political and Economic Officer, Canadian Consulate

“Brazil's at VerdeXchange, Japan's here, China's here, Canada. It's a great, great opportunity to build those regional relationships, because the federal government is just nuts.”

— Bob Hertzberg, California Assembly Speaker Emeritus

“The hallmark of VerdeXchange is that it’s a global perspective. There is money to be made in protecting the environment, and VerdeXchange is a good place to find it.”

— Rick Cole, Deputy Mayor for Budget and Innovation, City of Los Angeles

“Cleaning up the air and addressing global climate is good for the economy, and attending VerdeXchange conferences is a chance to actually meet the people who are proving that is true.”

— Mary Nichols, Chair, California Air Resources Board

“I think VerdeXchange is playing a key role in helping to bridge those gaps between Brazil and Southern California in particular.”

“I think it’s valuable on one level to be inspired by all that’s going on. But on another, very practical level, there are people here who know what the cutting edge is. By investing a couple of days in seeing what the cutting edge is, you save yourself months, if not years, of wasted time being stuck wherever you were, fighting to get onto the cutting edge of each of these things, wanting more. Otherwise, people sort of labor in the knowledge they can amass, having to go in depth. No one can be an expert on all of the issues. Another thing that is particularly useful about this meeting is that it brings together a bunch of sectors that rarely come together in the same meeting for any time. Generally, government meets with the private sector in meetings, and it meets with environmentalists or community groups in another meeting; it rarely meets with investors. That same lack of connection all together in one place happens so frequently. What you see is people are having these funny, separate conversations, but they don’t actually understand the economics or they don’t understand the sincere community concerns or they don’t really understand the legitimate concerns of government. Just in the energy of the hallway conversation, let alone the panels, you have people from all of those sectors looking at the same issue. This is exactly what we need if we’re going to make progress.”

— Felicia Marcus, Chair, State Water Resources Control Board

“A great, great demand for a Chinese investor looking for an investment opportunity in green technology.”

“I think it’s interesting to see the whole broad spectrum of what different people are doing in different corporations. We may be taking different tacks, and even working in different arenas like air and water and automobiles and alternative fuels, but most of us have to go through the same hurdles to get where we’re going, even though we’re doing something different. I think that’s beneficial. I met a couple of executives and companies that are trying to do what we’re doing, and I think that’s also helpful. Networking for me is a real benefit, and I listen to what the other people are talking about and saying, and that gives me a good perspective.”

— Randy Truby, Senior Vice President, Toray Membrane USA

“It’s one thing to have good products and good technology, but you have to get them implemented. You have to get accepted by the public. That’s one of the reasons why I’m here.”

— Daniel Breton, Assistant to the Premier of Quebec

“VerdeXchange Conferences offers attendees an opportunity to see things through other people’s lens.”

“I think a lot of these issues are really intertwined: water issues, renewable energy issues, carbon issues, and climate change cannot be separated. Looking at it holistically is very important. Until now, we have missed the opportunity to look at the nexus between these issues. The other observation I have is that this is actually mostly a very local group, and that’s a good thing, because we have a very diverse and large community in Los Angeles. This brings together a lot of the stakeholders in the area in Los Angeles, and I think that’s a very good way of looking at solving problems locally.”

— Mike Rosenfeld, Vice-Consul, British Consulate

VX2015 Program Guide

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Highlighted Speakers for VX2015

VX Arizona 2015 Int'l Business Symposium

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Testimonials

“VerdeXchange has become the preeminent gathering place for the intersection of green jobs, green technology, green business.”

— Eric Garcetti, Mayor, City of Los Angeles

“I think the quality of the content has really surpassed what most conferences have to offer. A lot of conferences are at a very basic level, assuming the audience is completely uneducated about the topic. This conference has functioned at a very high level. They know we can understand. I find that more valuable, and it gives us a better picture of how all the different industries or players are working, as opposed to an individual technology or an individual policy measure. It’s kind of a bird’s eye view of everything that’s happening right now.”

— Robyn Beavers, Senior VP, NRG Energy

“VerdeXchange, on an annual basis, brings together some of the best minds, some of the best thinkers, the influencers in this space.”

— David Fransen, Former Consul General of Canada, Los Angeles

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About us

VERDEXCHANGE commits to: 1) connecting the green dots to spur growth of the green economy and the use of clean energy while reducing greenhouse gas pollution; 2) offering commercial entrepreneurs, global investors, environmental stewards, and public officials information and a marketplace for continually learning of innovations, opportunities, and public policies that are driving the trillion dollar global energy and climate change marketplace; and 3) spurring growth of the green economy.